"The Circle is the exhilarating new novel from Dave Eggers, best-selling author of A Hologram for the King, a finalist for the National Book Award. When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company's modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can't believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world--even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman's ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge"--

If you are looking for a book that is "un-put-downable, Dave Eggers' The Circle is it! This is the kind of book that you feel compelled to discuss with people--it would be great for a book discussion with its exploration of themes such as privacy and democracy.

Mae Holland is hired to work for a powerful tech company called "the Circle". Imagine if Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo all merged and became one huge internet company . . . . that's The Circle. As Mae joins the company she is excited and impressed by all the Circle offers like high-tech modern facilities, employee dorms, thematic parties, and even health insurance for her ailing father. It seems to be a utopian workplace. But soon, Mae becomes entrenched in the Circle culture and the launch of new inventions like SeeChange cameras that can be planted anywhere to see what people are doing. Mae also agrees to wear a camera around her neck that provides a live feed of all that she is doing every minute of every day. Political leaders are encouraged to wear these cameras and become transparent as well.
As the novel progresses, the reader is confronted with the idea that all this technological progress doesn't align with personal freedom and privacy. One of the Circle's taglines is " Privacy is Theft." But, what if nothing was private anymore? Is complete transparency the answer? Can technological progress be a bad thing?

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6.012 Patron-Generated Content

04/27/2011

The Library offers various venues in which patrons can contribute content that is accessible to the public. These include, but are not limited to, blogs, reviews, forums, and social tagging on the Library’s website and catalog. Any instance in which a patron posts written or recorded content to any of the Library’s venues that are accessible to the public is considered “patron-generated content” and is subject to this policy.

By contributing patron-generated content, patrons grant the Library an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual right and license to use, copy, modify, display, archive, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works based upon that content.

By submitting patron-generated content, patrons warrant they are the sole authors or that they have obtained all necessary permission associated with copyrights and trademarks to submit such content.

Patrons are liable for the opinions expressed and the accuracy of the information contained in the content they submit. The Library assumes no responsibility for such content.

The Library reserves the right not to post submitted content or to remove patron-generated content for any reason, including but not limited to:

content that is profane, obscene, or pornographic;

content that is abusive, discriminatory or hateful on account of race, national origin, religion, age, gender, disability, or sexual orientation;

content that contains threats, personal attacks, or harassment;

content that contains solicitations or advertisements;

content that is invasive of another person’s privacy;

content that is unrelated to the discussion or venue in which it is posted;

content that is in violation of the Library’s Code of Conduct or any other Library policy